Ruins of Adventure

It's like 2nd Edition with ascending ACs and Attack bonuses. What's not to love?

FREENEWPHLAN!
The New Phlan City Council is leading the fight to free their captive city.
Heroes are retaking the city block by block from the evil hordes.

RICHES & FAME!
The council is looking for soldiers and rogues, mages and clerics, heroes of all kinds, to come to New Phlan.
The wealth and land of an ancient city await those willing to reach out and take it.

GLORY!
Legends will be written about the heroic struggle to free New Phlan!
Ships to New Phlan depart twice monthly.
When you arrive, see the New Phlan City Council for the latest news and information.

Some Game-play Notes

This game assumes that the PCs have answered the call to aid New Phlan, along with many other adventurers. Regardless of how they got there (by land, by sea, as locals, as humanoid defectors from the ruins, etc.), the PCs are assumed to be living in Phlan and working for the council (until such time as they do otherwise). Aside from this basic premise, the game is an open sand-box, story-lines are mostly non-linear, you are free to pursue (or not pursue) any plot-hooks you see, and you are free to strike out on your own and explore whatever takes you fancy. What does this mean? Here are a few major points to keep in mind:

The party has a “home-base”. When exploring the ruins of Old Phlan, unless we end the session mid-combat or at some high drama point, you can always choose to end a session by saying “we withdraw to the city to recover and restock”.

After the first session, you should expect a lot of plot-hooks on a regular basis, whether from Council proclamations, notice-boards at the training hall, rumors around town, random strangers in pubs, or even as random encounters while you are on another mission. Regular missions (those publicly posted by the Council or others) and the current rumors will be posted weekly to the adventure log. If you are not sure what to do next, you can always check there.

There are other adventurers doing the same thing you are (both other PCs and NPC parties). If you choose not to follow a hook, another party might take care of it for you. Other parties might even choose to pursue the same mission simultaneously with you. Don’t count on a given mission still being there if you decide to pursue something else.

The world is not scaled to your level. Unless you commit genocide, you can expect to keep encountering goblins at level 20. Likewise, unless you are cautious, you can expect to encounter larger, scarier monsters at level 1. Sometimes discretion is the better part of avoiding a TPK.

There is a regular influx of new recruits. If a PC dies (and the party lacks the funds or desire to raise him), the party can just go to the training hall or local bars and find a replacement. Replacements might also turn up as other adventurers who are either brave enough to explore on their own, or who were separated from the rest of their party (or are the lone survivor of a failed expedition). Similarly, parties are free to stop by the training hall and recruit NPCs to join the party (just remember that they have their own motivations and will not be your meat-shields).

Also, remember, if you write a cool character background that gives me some possible plot-hooks, a nemesis, or anything else useful, expect it to be used. Player collaboration on the story is greatly appreciated.